Traumatic Incident Reduction Association

TIRA eNotes – June 2026 (No. 36)

The Value of a Trauma-Informed Perspective

The term trauma-informed has emerged to recognize the profound impact that traumatic experiences can have on a person’s mental, physical, and emotional well-being.  Ground-breaking research done by Drs. Vincent Felliti and Robert Anda in 1994 on Adverse Childhood Experiences demonstrated the direct connection between traumatic childhood experiences (ACEs) demonstrated a direct connection between traumatic childhood experiences and a wide range of later-life health and social problems.  Tier findings also revealed increased risks of self-destructive behaviors, chronic illness, and even premature death among those who had experienced significant early trauma.

This information allows us to better understand behaviors that might seem baffling or self-defeating.  Why do people sometimes act against their own best interests, harming themselves and others in the process?  Trauma explains a great deal.

Trauma can be simple or complex, a few single incidents, or a large number of linked events.  Someone involved in a serious car accident may later develop a fear of driving.  Someone assaulted in a parking garage may become unwilling to go into, or even go near, similar locations.  A painful experience of harsh criticism or invalidation from a respected leader, especially when someone is trying hard to succeed, may lead them to abandon goals and aspirations they once valued.

Let us consider the complicating effect of frightening, painful events that become linked together in the mind.  Events that share even small similarities can trigger emotional reactions connected to earlier experiences.  One study found that soldiers who served in combat during the Viet Nam War and who had experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse were significantly more likely to develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than those without such early trauma. Similarly, victims of violent crime are more likely to experience future victimization than individuals who have never been attacked.

Once we understand the powerful influence of trauma, what do we do with this knowledge?

A trauma-informed approach requires that we treat people with respect and dignity and that we avoid re-traumatizing them by unnecessarily triggering painful past experiences.  Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR), is ideally suited for work with traumatized people due to its person-centered nature.

TIR helps prevent re-traumatization in two important ways:

  • Focused attention on one issue at a time. TIR uses a highly specific focus, addressing one traumatic element of a person’s life at a time. There may be earlier incidents tied to the one we are addressing, and they will be addressed in their turn. The technique avoids jumping between multiple traumatic experiences at once. This focused approach is easier on clients and allows them to fully resolve one area before moving on to another.  Clients are never pushed, rushed, or contradicted.
  • Completion of each addressed issue. Equally important, TIR is based on the principles of Applied Metapsychology (see definition), which provide a framework for bringing each issue to its natural end point.  An end point is reached when the client experiences a sense of relief, satisfaction, and completion regarding the issue being addressed.

An additional benefit from this method is the increased sense of effectiveness and job satisfaction often reported by practitioners.

To benefit from Applied Metapsychology, see:

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